Ultraviolet-c haematogenous oxidation therapy of lipopolysaccharide-induced endotoxemia in a rabbit model: A biochemical study

Systemic inflammatory reaction – due to severe response to toxins of infection associated with immune inhibition – leads to multi-organ dysfunctions and high mortality. Ultraviolet (UV) blood is used for its therapeutic effects when moving across the cells. This study aims to evaluate the impact of UV-c Haematogenous Oxidation Therapy (HOT) in Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endotoxemia of rabbit model. A total of 40 rabbits randomly divided into four groups, including normal control (NC). LPS and LPS+UV-c HOT groups received 0.1 mg/kg LPS toxin of E. coli, UV-c HOT and LPS+UV-c HOT groups subjected to UV-c HOT treatments once weekly for five times. Blood collected, perfused with oxygen, UV-c directly irradiated into blood, and then auto-transfused. Rabbits were sacrificed after five weeks; blood and serum were collected for analysis. The survival rate, liver, kidney, lipid profile, and blood ions were assessed in treated rabbits. Mortality was 40% in the LPS group, while other groups showed no death. UV-c HOT enhanced critical pH, base deficit, blood gases, hypomagnesemia, hyperlactatemia, and concurrent acidosis. Besides, TNF-α, nitrite, and nitrate were suppressed in response to UV-c HOT. Moreover, UV-c HOT reduced liver and kidney enzymes, improved lipid metabolism, and ameliorated electrolytes homeostasis. Despite that, UV-c HOT performance in ICU for human and animal endotoxemic or septic patients should be evaluated and considered

Ultraviolet-C haematogenous oxidation therapy of lipopolysaccharide-induced endotoxemia in a rabbit model: A biochemical study

445-454Systemic inflammatory reaction – due to severe response to toxins of infection associated with immune inhibition – leads to multi-organ dysfunctions and high mortality. Ultraviolet (UV) blood is used for its therapeutic effects when moving across the cells. This study aims to evaluate the impact of UV-C Haematogenous Oxidation Therapy (HOT) in Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endotoxemia of rabbit model. A total of 40 rabbits randomly divided into four groups, including normal control (NC). LPS and LPS+UV-C HOT groups received 0.1 mg/kg LPS toxin of E. coli, UV-C HOT and LPS+UV-C HOT groups subjected to UV-C HOT treatments once weekly for five times. Blood collected, perfused with oxygen, UV-C directly irradiated into blood, and then auto-transfused. Rabbits were sacrificed after five weeks; blood and serum were collected for analysis. The survival rate, liver, kidney, lipid profile, and blood ions were assessed in treated rabbits. Mortality was 40% in the LPS group, while other groups showed no death. UV-C HOT enhanced critical pH, base deficit, blood gases, hypomagnesemia, hyperlactatemia, and concurrent acidosis. Besides, TNF-α, nitrite, and nitrate were suppressed in response to UV-C HOT. Moreover, UV-C HOT reduced liver and kidney enzymes, improved lipid metabolism, and ameliorated electrolytes homeostasis. Despite that, UV-C HOT performance in ICU for human and animal endotoxemic or septic patients should be evaluated and considered

Self-assembly of Ni–Fe layered double hydroxide at room temperature for oxygen evolution reaction

Active and stable electrocatalysts are the key to water electrolysis for hydrogen production. This paper reports a facile direct growth method to synthesize NiFe-layered double hydroxides (LDHs) on nickel foil as an electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction. The NiFe-LDH is synthesized by a galvanic process at room temperature without any additional energy for synthesis. The synthesized NiFe-LDH is a karst landform with abundant active sites and efficient mass diffusion. The NiFe-LDH with an oxygen defect show excellent electrocatalytic performance for the OER, with a low overpotential (272 mV at 10 mA/cm2), a small Tafel slope (43 mV/dec), and superior durability. Direct growth synthesis provide excellent electrical conductivity as well as strong bonding between the catalyst layer and the substrate. In addition, this synthesis process is simple to apply in the fabrication of a large size electrode and is believed to be applicable to commercialized alkaline water electrolysis

Long-term oral intake of Panax ginseng improves hypomagnesemia, hyperlactatemia, base deficit, and metabolic acidosis in an alloxan-induced rabbit model

Objective(s): Panax ginseng (PG) widely used for its various pharmacological activities, including effects on diabetes and its complications. This study aims to investigate the effect of PG on mortality-related hypomagnesemia, hyperlactatemia, metabolic acidosis, and other diabetes-induced abnormalities. Materials and Methods: Type 1 diabetes was induced by IV injection of alloxan monohydrate 110 mg/kg into New Zealand white rabbits weighing 2-2.5 kg. PG was supplied in drinking water for 20 weeks. The effects of the PG treatment on diabetes were evaluated through hematological and biochemical analysis including ELISA assays for insulin and glycated haemoglobin A1c (HBA1c) before and after PG extract was supplied. Results: The serum glucose, insulin, and HBA1c levels were significantly improved after the PG treatment compared to those found before PG treatment. In addition, Mg2+, lactate, and base deficit, and acidosis was significantly enhanced in treated rabbits. Moreover, PG showed hepato- and renoprotective effect. Likewise, electrolytes, lipid and protein profile were improved.Conclusion: The biochemical and hematological analysis data demonstrate that the PG is effective to alleviate the diabetes serious signs

Outcome of Management of Local Recurrence after Immediate Transverse Rectus Abdominis Myocutaneous Flap Breast Reconstruction

BackgroundNo consensus has been reached regarding the outcome of management of local recurrence after transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flap breast reconstruction. This study demonstrated the presentation, management, and outcomes of local recurrence after immediate TRAM breast reconstruction.MethodsA comparison was conducted among 1,000 consecutive patients who underwent immediate breast reconstruction with a pedicled TRAM flap (TRAM group) and 3,183 consecutive patients who underwent only modified radical mastectomy without reconstruction (MRM group) from January 2001 to December 2009. The presentation, treatment, and outcome including aesthetics and overall survival rate were analyzed.ResultsLocal recurrences occurred in 18 (1.8%) patients (TRAM-LR group) who underwent TRAM breast reconstruction and 38 (1.2%) patients (MRM-LR group) who underwent MRM only (P=0.1712). Wide excision was indicated in almost all the local recurrence cases. Skin graft was required in 4 patients in the MRM-LR group, whereas only one patient required a skin graft to preserve the mound shape in the TRAM-LR group. The breast mound was maintained in all 17 patients that survived in the TRAM-LR group even after wide excision. The overall survival rate was 94.4% in the TRAM-LR group and 65.8% in the MRM-LR group (P=0.276).ConclusionsLocal recurrence after immediate TRAM flap breast reconstruction could be detected without delay and managed effectively by multiple modalities without reducing overall survival rates. Breast mound reconstruction with soft autologous tissue allowed for primary closure in most of the cases. In all of the patients who survived, the contour of their reconstructed breast remained

Combined aberrant expression of E-cadherin and S100A4, but not β-catenin is associated with disease-free survival and overall survival in colorectal cancer patients

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancers is related to metastasis, recurrence, and poor prognosis. We evaluated whether EMT-related proteins can act as prognostic biomarkers in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. METHODS: We evaluated the expression of E-cadherin, β-catenin, and S100A4 by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in 333 CRC tissues from the tumor center and invasive margin. Tumor budding, cell grade, tumor stage, type of tumor growth, peritumoral lymphocyte infiltration (TLI), and perineural- or lymphovascular invasion were evaluated as pathological parameters. mRNA levels of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, β-catenin, and S100A4 from 68 specimens from the same set were analyzed by real time quantitative RT-PCR. RESULTS: Loss of E-cadherin, nuclear β-catenin, and gain of S100A4 were higher in the invasive margin than in the tumor center. Loss of E-cadherin was associated with cell grade, macroscopic type, perineural invasion, and tumor budding, β-catenin with microsatellite instability and tumor site, and S100A4 with growth type, macroscopic type, AJCC stage, lymphovascular invasion, and perineural invasion. The aberrant expression of E-cadherin and S100A4 not β-catenin in the invasive margin was a significant and independent risk factor for disease-free and overall-survival by multivariate analysis, along with AJCC stage and perineural invasion. mRNA levels of β-catenin and S100A4 were correlated with the IHC findings at the tumor invasive margin. E-cadherin and N-cadherin showed a weak inverse correlation. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of loss of E-cadherin and gain of S100A4 in the tumor invasive margin can be used to stratify patients with the same AJCC stage into different survival groups. VIRTUAL SLIDES: The virtual slides for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/939828962924467

Association between Workplace Risk Factor Exposure and Sleep Disturbance: Analysis of the 2nd Korean Working Conditions Survey

OBJECTIVES: Sleep is essential for human beings to live and work properly. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between occupational exposures to workplace risk factors and sleep disturbance in Korean workers. METHODS: The data were drawn from the second Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS); a total of 7,112 paid workers were analyzed. The independent variables were occupational exposures such as physical, chemical, biological, and psychosocial risk factor in the workplace, and psychosocial risk factor was divided into five categories (job demand, job control, social support, job insecurity, lack of reward). We estimated the relationship between various occupational exposures and sleep disturbance using multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The results showed that people who exposed to physical, chemical, biological, and psychosocial (high job demand, inadequate social support, lack of reward) risk factors were more likely to increase the risk of sleep disturbance. Furthermore, after adjusting for general and occupational characteristics, we found significant positive associations between exposures to physical (odds ratios [OR] 1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-2.07) and psychosocial (high job demand (OR 2.93, 95% CI 2.16-3.98), inadequate social support (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.14-2.15), lack of reward (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.08-1.96)) risk factors and sleep disturbance. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that occupational exposures to physical and psychosocial workplace risk factors are significantly related to sleep disturbance

Development of the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences Guideline for Rating Physical Impairment

Systematic and effective welfare for the disabled is possible when there are scientific and objective criteria demonstrating either presence or severity of the impairment. We need our own scientific criteria suitable for our culture and society, since the impairment is influenced by them. In 2007, we established the Developing Committee of Korean Academy of Medical Sciences (KAMS) Guideline for Impairment Rating under KAMS supervision. We included all fixed and permanent physical impairments after a sufficient medical treatment. The impairment should be stable and medically measurable. If not, it should be reevaluated later. We benchmarked the American Medical Association Guides. The KAMS Guideline should be scientific, objective, valid, reasonable and practical. In particular, we tried to secure objectivity. We developed the KAMS Guideline for Impairment Rating

Pneumocephalus in Patients With Orthostatic Headache

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak or shunt overdrainage is a well-known cause of orthostatic headaches and low CSF pressures. We report two cases of orthostatic headache with pneumocephalus on brain imaging. The orthostatic headache developed after drainage of spinal operation site and epidural block. Brain MRI revealed characteristic findings of CSF hypovolemia including pachymeningeal enhancement and mild subdural fluid collections. Air was also observed in the ventricular or subarachnoid space in both patients, which might enter the subarachnoid or ventricular space during a procedure via the pressure gradient or an injection